Subtexts of the Caribbean
by Reallybigpineapple
Summary: Every fandom needs a pirate AU, it's practically the law, right? Maura is a noblewoman visiting the Caribbean during the golden age of piracy and has runs-ins with two famous pirates, one insane, dangerous and smelly, the other one with a smoky voice and lovely dark eyes... Rizzles smut and silliness, not to be taken seriously.
1. Chapter 1

Authors note: Thanks to my lovely beta Crackinois and for the peptalks!

I own nothing. Also: I live with a lawyer, so don't sue ;) Gerritsen/JTam owns, but on account of JTam being no fun, I'm borrowing.

Lady Fairfield sighed heavily. She stole a glance at her bemused husband, Garrett, Lord Fairfield. He stared straight ahead, wrinkled forehead, face like a cloud. Nothing unusual there. Shame, he was actually a very handsome man.

She pulled a miniature sextant out of her silk purse and started calculating their course.

"Do you have to do that?"

Garrett scowled at her.

"It interests me, so yes."

Garrett disliked that she had a brain, a fact she had unfortunately failed to realise before her father promised her to him in marriage. But she had long since resigned to the fact. He had once called her one of the "finer things in life". When the fine thing turned out to have a fine mind, he was less than amused. And that wasn't even the main problem... She had turned out a disappointment to him in so many ways. It was years since he last called her beautiful or kissed her with tenderness.

She had been looking forward to this trip: sailing to the Caribbean sounded like a great adventure, full of new things to discover. Sadly, she had gotten little opportunity so far: the business venture Garrett had had such high hopes for was a disaster, like most projects he got involved in. He was in no mood for detours...

She made some notes on course and stellar cartography before noticing the agitated conversation going on between the captain and the skipper of their vessel, the Privileged Background.

"Lord Fairfield, M'lady... I'm going to have to ask you to hide, if you please. The Apprentice has been sighted on the horizon.

"What are you talking about?"

Garrett sounded petulant, as usual.

"The Apprentice is the ship of Captain Charles Hoyt. A very dangerous man..."

Lady Fairfield stood up, suddenly alert.

"Charles Hoyt? The Surgeon?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"How did you know that?"

"Garrett, we've been over this, I read books. And remember the contents. Charles Hoyt is a famous corsair. If this is indeed the Surgeon, I'd say that dangerous is a bit of an understatement. I've been led to believe he's quite insane."

"That would probably be a correct estimation, M'lady. Might I trouble you to hide below deck?"

Garrett tried to grumble, but even he could see on her face that this was serious.

She felt seriously tempted to peek out of the hatch to actually see this infamous man, but settled for squinting out through the narrow cracks in the deck planks in hope of catching a glimpse. Her curiosity was overtaken by fear as she heard an agonising scream up above, clearly audible even to her and Garrett hidden below deck.  
The hatch was slammed open and a gaunt, off putting face glanced down on them.

"Ah... I love the smell of lavender and fear..."

"You might very well, but my perfume is lilac and the wind is far too strong for any olfactory impressions of body odour, fear or otherwise", Lady Fairlfield said coldly. She knew she should have held her tongue, but such inaccuracy was unacceptable.

Two pairs of strong arms grabbed her and hauled her unceremoniously back up on deck.

"You might just have said please, no need to ruin good silk!"

She looked down on the tear in her bodice with displeasure.

The Surgeon stroked her cheek in mock imitation of tenderness that made her shiver with revulsion. The foulness of the filthy man's breath made her fight to control her gag reflex. The look in his eyes was not good news. Not at all. But she kept her body language calm and her gaze steady.

He caressed her neck and the gold chain with an amulet of the staff of Aesculapius.

"A present for me? My dear, you shouldn't have..."

She managed not to make a sound, despite the stinging of her skin when he ripped the chain off of her neck. She took a deep breath as the surgeon slid a long, slim dagger out of a sheath and pressed it against her cheek.

"I'm not afraid of you."

"You're not, are you? A very rare bird... I might keep you. Put you in a cage..."

The terrified silence on deck was broken by a sudden commotion.

"Look at that flag..."

The first mate's whisper was somewhere between reverent and frightened to death.  
It wasn't the Jolly Roger. This flag was black and white, but instead had two crossed pistols and a shield with a single star on it. The skipper went even paler, which Lady Fairfield hadn't thought possible.

"Oh, no... Black Rizzoli"

"Who's Black Rizzoli?"

Lady Fairfield's interest peaked, as with anything exotic or novel.

"Legend has it the illegitimate child of Blackbeard. Not a pirate out there who doesn't tremble at the sound of that name."

"Actually, Blackbeard isn't as successful a pirate as one might think. Bartholomew Roberts, a.k.a. Black Bart, has captured far more ships and quantity of cargo than Blackbeard."

"Jesus, woman, are you making this up, or are you some sort of witch?"

Maura threw him a bemused look.

"I can read, captain. And frequently do."

The ship of this dreaded, unknown pirate approached swiftly. A tall, slender figure was visible on deck, exuding confidence and to her surprise, grace. This was a different sort of pirate from Charles Hoyt. Captain Rizzoli's light frame was encased in skintight black buckskin trousers and a handsome, heavy navy uniform coat. The high boots were gleaming in the bright sunlight. The mane of black curls falling down the back of the coat was surprisingly long, but then again, even Lady Fairfield had to admit she wasn't well versed in pirate fashion...  
She blushed a little when she noticed how her heart beat a little faster when she looked at him. What was the matter with her? She was in mortal danger and here she was wondering if Black Rizzoli was a handsome man since he exuded such confidence, when he was probably going to kill her, or best case scenario, leave her destitute in the middle of the Caribbean.

The ship was nearing boarding distance and the pirate captain turned around. Well, at least she had been right about one thing: Black Rizzoli was almost painfully handsome. But not in a male kind of way... Lady Fairfield had to make an effort to mind her manners and close her mouth and stop staring. Captain Rizzoli was not only a woman, but likely the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She should have been able to draw that conclusion from the light frame, but it simply hadn't occurred to her that the pirate could be female. There had been little in the relevant literature about that... The handsome, angular face was so perfectly proportioned that she had to resist calculating the exact ratio in her head.

Forgoing the plank that was quickly laid out between the two ships, Black Rizzoli ran and jumped from one deck to another and drew her pistols mid motion.  
She noticed with keen interest and great surprise how the The Surgeon smiled at her, like she was a dear, missed friend as she was next to him in one, long stride.

"Ah... Miss me, dear? Isn't that sweet..."

Very quickly, he slashed his dagger through the air and she saw a few drops of red blood fall from Captain Rizzoli's cheek. She had the irrational thought that there should be rules about ruining something that beautiful, before the fight started raging.  
She ducked instinctively as Black Rizzoli fired one of her pistols. The noise almost made her deaf. There was screaming and commotion all around her, but she couldn't resist looking up again when she heard the swoosh of a sword and a body fall to the deck with a sickening thud.  
The pirate was down on the ground. A surprised frown formed on her forehead as she noticed there was smoke billowing out from under her.  
Black Rizzoli sat suddenly, ramrod straight and put a burning torch to The Surgeon's face. His scream was enough to make the blood curdle in your veins, or rather would have been, if that were scientifically possible.  
Black Rizzoli put one of her boots on Charles Hoyt's wrist and fired her pistol again: red blood stained the deck under the corsairs hands.  
Captain Rizzoli smiled a smile completely devoid of humour. She didn't know if it were merely competition between pirates, or if this was something more sinister, but she could see the cold rage on her face as she looked down on the broken man underneath her.

"We match."

The handsome pirate flipped her mane of hair back over her shoulder and turned to her crew.

"Take him to the brig. And I think we deserve a mug of rum!"

Captain Rizzoli's screw cheered raucously as they hauled the surgeon and his apprentices away.

"Now, what have we here?"

The pirate looked at her and smiled. It was breathtaking... The dimples in her cheeks, the amused glitter in her eyes, all of it. And her voice... If midnight could make a sound, this would be it.  
Why couldn't she focus on the mortal danger part?

A stout, older man, with another man in tow, came up to the captain hauling their luggage, taken from them by Hoyt and his crew.

"There's not much of value in here, captain. Mostly women's apparel and books on science stuff. And some sort of plant collection. And... a dead bird..."

"Don't touch that! I think it's on the verge of extinction, it needs to be preserved and catalogued!"

The handsome young man went visibly pale at the sight of the decomposing carcass.

"Rail, rail! Come on!"

As the pirate emptied his morning meal into the sea, Captain Rizzoli turned to her.

"He gets seasick too. But he's actually a great first mate."

She looked down into her bags.

"You travel light.. "

"Well, I read a book about getting lost at sea, bulky luggage can be a problem. Also, I favour silk over heavier materials."

"And this?"

Captain Rizzoli held up a small saw with an amused expression.

"Well, I happen to know a thing or two about building storm shelters," Lady Fairfield said haughtily.

"Do you now...?

"Yes, I do."

Garrett stuck his head out of the hatch in the floor.

"Look here, do you know who I am?"

She knew right away that Garretts petulant tone would not go down well with the pirate.

"I do. You are the man my quartermaster is going to tie to the mast if you don't stay calm."

"I want to talk to the ambassador!"

"Ambassador of what, exactly?"

"Garrett... Calm down."

"Hold your tongue!"

"OK, that's it: Korsak, tie him to the mast. Crowe, help him. Better gag him while you're at it. You should be respectful to your wife, Fairfield. She's not a bad wench and seems to have half a brain too: a rare thing in a noblewoman."

"I beg your pardon!? 'Not a bad wench?' I'd say that's a gross understatement!"

"And feisty too! She's right, she a fine wench even. And that silk in her dress could come in handy when we repair the yardarn, I have a feeling she might be even more to her advantage without it..."

The other pirates cheered loudly at the lewd remark.

Lady Fairfield felt her cheeks burn red, but not from embarrassment, from fury. Who did this woman think she was?

"Manners, captain!"

"Certainly a noblewoman, that's for sure... No one else would be worried about harsh language after being seized by a bunch of scurvy dogs like us... Be careful M'lady so the tar doesn't tarnish yer fine silk shoes..."

Captain Rizzoli bowed in an exaggerated manner, getting another cheer from her band of pirates.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the crewman Rizzoli had called Crowe pawing through her jewelry box. When he put her ring in his pocket, the only memento she had of her birth mother, she felt herself battling tears, to her extreme annoyance. She took a deep breath and told herself they were only possessions.

"Crowe... Put every single thing right back in that box and bring it to me, right now."

Captain Rizzoli's voice was dangerously low and she spat the words out through clenched teeth.

Crowe stood absolutely still and looked Black Rizzoli in the eye. The muscles of his clenched jaw were bulging and his fists clenched around her diamond necklace, the one Garrett had insisted she'd bring, so he could show off his fortune, or rather the pretense of a fortune, to the rich plantation owner they had visited.

"You have no right to deny me. I have signed the chasse-partie, I deserve my share!"

"You mean the same chasse-partie that gives you an obligation to obey your elect _captain_, _crewman _Crow? Let me put it to you in a way that you can understand: if you do not hand over this bounty immediately, I shall personally see to it that you get demoted to powder monkey. With a limp..."

Rizzoli's hand tightened around the sabre she carried along with her pistols.

Fury was painted on Crowe's face as he dropped her jewelry box with a resounding thud on the ground in front of the captain.

"Pocket too, Crowe."'

With a look of disdain on his face, he put her mother's ring in the palm of the pirate's hand.

She was caught totally off guard when he grabbed her arm.

"Give me the wench, then. It's my turn to get a bigger share. The ruby you kept for yourself from the last cargo was worth much more than just a woman: so was that jewel encrusted sheath you gave to Frost when we took The Strangler's ship. I deserve the woman."

"You deserve nothing. I'm the captain of this ship, hence I decide whose turn it is. Let her go, Crowe."

Captain Rizzoli spat the name out like it tasted badly in her mouth and drew her sabre.

She turned around and gave her an appraising look.

"Maybe I'm in the mood for a change myself. She looks good for a few hours of amusement."

Her blood started to boil. The gall of this woman...

"Over my dead body!"

"I'd rather be over your live one, M'lady..."

If those pirates cheered one more time...

Black Rizzoli shocked her by putting her arm around her waist and yanking her close. She tried to struggle, but Lady Fairfield almost forgot to be angry as she noted with wonder how good the pirate's firm touch felt... She looked into her huge, dark eyes and got a confused frown on her forehead when she thought saw only concern and kindness in them... But surely...?

"Parlai! I demand a parlai!"

"Really? A parlai?"

The surprise on the pirate's face was evident. But she was convinced she also saw respect.  
She was outraged and offended by this uncouth pirate. But there was also a recognition that this woman in a strange way was sharing an experience with her: being a woman fighting for the right to be taken seriously in a man's world. She suspected that Captain Rizzoli simply did what she had to do to get along and stand her ground with these men. And then there was something else lingering under the surface; excitement. Yes, she was outraged and offended, but the danger and challenges of this situation were strangely exhilarating too..  
Black Rizzoli was obnoxious and rude, but at least she would be able to suffer through the touch of those hands. If Hoyt had taken her, she didn't know what she would have done.

"Gentlemen, seems the lady needs my attention urgently..."

"Is that what they call it these days?" the rotund older man shouted and Captain Rizzoli's crew roared with laughter.

"You know, quartermaster Korsak, I do believe it is!"

Captain Rizzoli offered her her hand as she was walking the narrow passageway over to her ship but Lady Fairfield refused it point blank. She might have prayed to every imaginary god she had ever heard of, but she walked the precarious walk without the pirate's help.

She looked up at the dark sails of the ship.

"Black sails? Really? Do you not think that to be a bit much, captain?"

She smiled disdainfully at Black Rizzoli.

The pirate smiled a self deprecating smile as she leaned casually against the rail of the ship.

"They're midnight blue... But I do have a certain image to uphold... Welcome to The Subtext, Lady Fairfield. It might not be as big and ostentatious as other Ships, but she's beautiful and she can always be trusted to get me exactly where I want to go. Let me take you to the captain's quarters."

Black Rizzoli's private quarters were surprisingly nice and comfortable. Tidy, well kept. Lady Fairfield had expected something different, more studied indifference, pistols and sabres lying around, empty bottles, captured cargo, maybe. Something that wouldn't cramp the style of an infamous pirate. The room was cluttered, certainly, but also strangely inviting...

The captain leaned casually against a heavy wooden table and started peeling an orange with a slim dagger.

"Fruit?"

She pierced a slice with her dagger and offered it to her.

Lady Fairfield could barely stop herself from stomping her foot like a petulant child.

"How dare you terrorize me!?"

"Fine. No fruit."

"I obviously mean your display up on deck!"

"What do you mean? I'm a pirate, it's my job to terrorize people!"

"It should be perfectly possible to be a pirate without resorting to bad manners! Furthermore, you tied Lord Fairfield to the mast and GAGGED him!"

"If you ask me my lady, your husband is the one with bad manners, considering he let his wife fend for herself when faced with one of the vilest of scurvy scoundrels to ever sail the Caribbean..."

She lost some of her fighting spirit after those words. Captain Rizzoli had a point. Garrett wasn't the most self sacrificing of people.

"Right, let's get this over with!"

She stepped out of her shoes and shrugged her shawl off her shoulders.

"I will need some help with the bodice part, since you have kidnapped my maid."

She impatiently turned her back to the pirate, still seething with anger, but she would try to endure this in the vein of Marcus Aurelius...

"Excuse me?"

She turned around to see an utterly flummoxed pirate, who had lost her cocky grin.

"I see, you are unfamiliar with formal ladies wear. Fine, I suppose I have to manage myself, then, even though that will be awkward."

"Excuse me?"

The look on the pirate's face was genuinely puzzled.

"I know the rules of piracy, so I requested a parlai to spare my husband of the sight of you reaping your reward."

Lady Maura closed her eyes and reclined her head slightly, waiting with a beating heart for Captain Rizzoli to claim her prize.

Nothing happened.

"Captain... Aren't you going to...?"

"What?"

"I am prepared to endure it when you stake your claim."

"What?"

"Kissing me would then be the logical place to start, wouldn't you agree?"

"No! And I don't mean that like, "no", rather as no! Just... No. I would never take advantage like that, what sort of scoundrel do you take me for!"

"A pirate! Captain, I do not understand you! You spoke to your men about wenches and bounty an-and... entertainment and reward."

"Look, Lady Fairfield, I have a certain image to uphold so not to lose authority with my crew. Crowe craves command and Hoyt has tried to slay me several times; if I were to appear weak there would be mutiny. But I would never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. You have already played your part, mylady, I was merely trying to keep you safe. I prefer to aim my sword at other pirates."

"So you're a pirate pirate? Isn't that against the rules of piracy?"

"Not as such. You know the rules of piracy? You're a gentlewoman, how is this possible?"

"I may be female, but I am not simple, Captain! I will have you know I have read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from a to z! And memorized it for the most part."

"Wasted on me, sadly. I'm an uneducated sailor, without skills bar wielding a sword and bringing down scum. I should have robbed a library instead. The things I would have known..."

"Captain Rizzoli, not only do you appear to be fearless, but also to have a superior knowledge of human nature. Of this I am envious: it can't be learnt from a book."

"I know the nature of bad men, which is not the same as knowing human nature."

"We are all made of good and evil. Hades and Arcadia, Captain."

"Lady Fairfield, I have no idea what you just said. I find this dictionary speak taxing, I suggest a mug of rum and for us to retire to this comfortable bed I seized from a rude french count."

"I do not really drink rum, but as for the rest, I shall endure."

"Nonsense, no one dislikes rum."

"I prefer a small sherry from time to time, although ladies aren't supposed to drink at all in polite society, strictly speaking."

"Good thing you're not in polite society, then. You obviously have not tasted the quality of rum this ship stores. We robbed a smuggler a while back. That man did carry some mighty fine grog, I'll give him that."

"Grog?"

"And I was beginning to think there was nought you did not know. Good rum Of Granada, the finest cask of spirit that can be bought with money."

"Except you don't pay for it."

"Neither did the smuggler."

Captain Rizzoli poured a mug of spirit from a small cask. Lady Fairfield started to re-evaluate her decision not to drink. The warm, soothing fragrance of the spirit made it seem like rather a brilliant idea.

"Come, have a mug. You have been robbed, harassed and kidnapped. And lived to tell the tale."

"I don't drink rum."

The objection sounded weak even to her own ears.

"That's because you haven't had this rum."

"Well... I have been kidnapped..."

"Yes you have. So have a mug of rum on me, seems only fair."

Gingerly, she took a sip. It was like fire on her tongue: if fire were benevolent, fragrant, aromatic...

She looked at the pirate with wide eyes.

"It's delicious."

"I do know good rum, ma'am. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've had a long day..."

"You wouldn't have if you just stopped robbing people..."

But the muttered grouching was half hearted and she held her mug of rum contentedly in her hand.

The pirate pulled her high leather boots off and hung the navy uniform coat on the back of a chair. The white, fine linen shirt she wore underneath wasn't revealing per se... But she hadn't bothered to tie the cravat and the material did give more than a hint of the skin tone underneath. It was certainly a very daring outfit for a woman. But then again, Captain Rizzoli was obviously not an ordinary woman. And she was most certainly daring...  
Lady Fairfield noticed that she was staring yet again and took a sip out of the mug to hide the uncustomary feel of her blushing cheeks.

Captain Rizzoli patted the other side of the bed, next to her.

"No, thank you."

She felt obliged to uphold the last vestiges of her dignity, though that bed looked rather tempting right now, even if she had to share it with a pirate.  
The pirate in question rolled her eyes and drew her sabre. Lady Fairfield's heart started beating faster. Had she underestimated Black Rizzoli? The captain put the sabre next to her on the bed and gestured toward it.

"I promise to stay on my side of the sword. Now please, make yourself comfortable. No need for this to be more unpleasant than it has to."

She carefully walked over to the bed and sat down primly on the side.

"What brought you to the Caribbean?"

"Really? First kidnapping and then smalltalk?"

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

The pirate shrugged and smiled. That smile... Not good. Too good... To her horror, Lady Fairfield found that she did indeed have a better suggestion... She took a big swig of the rum.

"You might want to be careful with that rum, it's quite potent."

"I have been robbed, insulted and kidnapped. Getting intoxicated would not be the worst thing that has happened to me today, Captain."

"Good point. Now, where were we."

Lady Fairfield sighed and fluffed the pillows behind her to make herself comfortable.

"Well... My husband has been having some financial troubles."

"Hence the light luggage?"

"No, I calculated weight and volume so we could use it as a flotation device in case of emergency. Also, I do really prefer to wear silk, which is a conveniently light material."

"Of course you do."

The rum worked its magic surprisingly fast, but on the other hand, she had no previous experience of how her body responded to strong alcohol after a long day at sea followed by being kidnapped by a pirate. A distractingly handsome pirate.  
Captain Rizzoli looked deep into her eyes and she suddenly lost her train of thought...

***  
"So, Lord Fairfield was broke?"

"Ummhmm. His business was not going well and since his older brother Adam, who had inherited Fairfield Manor and the entire estate, was disinclined to help him, he expected me to save the day. But my father is a..."

She absentmindedly took another swig of rum before continuing to tell her life story to a handsome stranger. This was all most unlike her. But there was something about how the pirate listened, something seductive about the sympathetic look on that handsome face. As if, for the first time, marooned in the middle of the Caribbean, she had found someone who actually understood her. Or was even interested in what she had to say: as Lady Fairfield, she was not accustomed to this.

"a great philanthropist, so he had tied most of the family money up in charitable endowments. And since he assumed I would be marrying rich, he made no particular provisions for me, or Garrett. My husband took me for my money, captain. So you can imagine his disappointment when there were none."

"Your husband is a scoundrel, ma'am! Would you like me to send him to Davy Jones' locker, I can have one of the men do it right now?"

"A generous offer, captain, but I once loved him very much. Also, I don't think that's the kind of person you are."

She took a generous mouthful. She was not used to candor such as this, but she found that she enjoyed it immensely. In polite society, no one ever spoke the truth, least of all to a lady Fairfield. Also, it touched her in some strange way that the pirate took her side so wholeheartedly. An unexpected source of loyalty...

"I would be grateful if you pretended to be a little scandalised when I release you tomorrow, but I give you leave to tell your husband and whomever else you might deem necessary that nothing happened here tonight."

"I can't. I am unable to lie."

"Come now, no-one is unable to lie. Reluctant, yes, but unable?"

"I would tell you that I'm telling the truth, except that you might suspect that I am lying about that, since you have no empirical evidence of my physical near inability to lie."

"My lady, it must be complicated being you..."

"You have no idea, Captain..."

Maura smiled at the pirate. She shouldn't be enjoying this so much. But she had a feeling that Captain Rizzoli was too... And why did she feel so disappointed that she _wouldn't_be ravished by an uncouth pirate tonight?

"So, how does this inability to lie manifest itself?"

"Sometimes I become vasovagal."

"Desist with the dictionary speech! English..."

"I faint, captain."

"Faint? You seemed to be of sturdier material than that."

"Only lying, nought else."

"Very well, I'm telling you now that I intend to keep you here as my slave. Does this not strike you with fear?"

"You are? No, I don't think it does. I suspect it would be rather interesting."

"Ha! See. You can lie!"

"I cannot!".

"So... You wouldn't fear being a pirate wench to an uncouth corsair like me? Really?"

"I would not. I lead an unfulfilling life at home."

"Do you like this shirt with these breaches?"

"No, not really. White is too sensitive a colour to wear out at sea. Your cuffs are stained."

"I am starting to believe you! No-one in their right mind gives apparel advice to a pirate. Tell me that up there is the moon!"

She pointed toward a star visible through a porthole.

"I will do no such thing!"

Black Rizzoli lifted her sword, quick as lightning.

"Tell me... The moon!"

Maura felt goosebumps from the pirate's warm breath on her ear. Her skin was almost as soft as the silk of her own dress...

The captain lifted the sword to her throat.

"Very well then, you bully. It's the moon."

She felt her face begin to blush, dizziness and a shortness of breath before Rizzoli lowered her sword. Suddenly, she was held in the strong arms of the pirate. Gunpowder, the ocean and rare spices scented her tanned skin. Her midnight eyes looked kind, worried, not the burning embers they had been before. She was shocked at how badly she wanted to kiss her...

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?"

"Maybe I need you to untie my corset for a while, I seem to be out of breath..."

This was in no way a lie, she was certainly out of breath. Not from nearly fainting, however...The pirate reached behind her and Lady Fairfield found that unlike murderous fiends, there was something that fazed Captain Rizzoli: ladies garments. After a string of curses and afterthought apologies for said curses, she prevailed.

The pirate's forehead creased with worry and she stopped, mid motion. Carefully, she touched the mark on her neck left when Hoyt pulled her necklace off. She leant into her to see it.

"The surgeon?"

Lady Fairfield nodded. With the last vestige of scientific detachment, she noted how her pulse sped up and breath became laboured as the pirate lingered close.

"Are you uncomfortable? I could have an ointment brought for you?"

"I do believe the rum has cured me of any discomfort, captain, but thank you for your concern... However, I wish you would let me take care of this..."

She gestured toward the gash on her cheek.

"No need, it is merely a scratch."

"It is not a scratch by any means, captain. And I assure you it will leave enough scar tissue for you to still be able to cultivate a 'menacing pirate' look."

She raised her eyebrows mockingly.

"The insolence... Do as you please, wench!"

She tried to keep the amused smile off her face as she dipped the edge of her lace handkerchief in her mug of rum.

"This might hurt a little."

She gently put the alcohol drenched cloth against the gash and heard Captain Rizzoli gasp involuntarily.

"A little...?"

But she sensed that the pirate grumbled mostly out of principle.

She gently cleaned the wound out and felt the skin around it to make sure that there was nothing outside of the ordinary. Except for her own physical response... Her hand stopped when she realised she was so close to the pirate now it was indecent. There was a mere inch between them... Swiftly, she leant back again, so the pirate wouldn't get the wrong idea. Or the right one...

Or rather she tried. Captain Rizzoli forcefully pulled her close again.

"Captain... What are you doing...?"

Their eyes met... Captain Rizzoli purposefully cleared her throat, but didn't let go. Lady Fairfield felt her heart rush in her chest.

"My sword... You were too close to it, it's very sharp. Let me clear the bed..."

She nodded, at a loss for words for once. The pirate got even closer when she reached behind her and cleared the sword off of the bed with an impatient motion. Lady Fairfield started a little when it hit the deck with a loud noise, but the pirate didn't loosen her grip.

"I will let that scurvy dog know myself your virtue is intact before I release you tomorrow." she whispered hoarsely in her ear, still not rising from the compromising position.

Lady Fairfield stopped her.

"I'm not sure my virtue is of concern for my husband anymore, captain. It is for me, however."

"Yes, of course, I didn't intend... Wait. Why would it be a problem that you can't tell a lie about what happened tonight? I haven't done anything to offend your honour yet?"

The pirate's gaze dropped to where their bodies were pressed together. Maura blinked in surprise: had she just caught the pirate captain staring at her decolletage...?

"Captain... You have bullied and terrorised me. My reputation is ruined, since the story of how a Fairfield was captured and made the love slave of a pirate is sure to travel. My husband will be even less interested in me than before; this will make him a laughing stock.

"I was trying to protect you from a fate worse than this. I assure you that your virtue and your life is safe with me. As for your ruined reputation, I will do what is in my power to restore it."

"Don't. I find it most cumbersome."

"Mylady, I have no idea what you just said."

"You called me a catch, a prize. Claim it, captain. Let me at least reap the benefits. I would like to feel like a woman again at least once more in my life."

She felt the potent rum sing in her veins as she gave in to its siren call. She rose from the bed and pressed her lips to Captain Rizzoli's.

The pirate broke the kiss first.

"I'm beginning to wonder who is claiming who here..."

"Who is claiming whom, captain. You didn't like...?"

Lady Maura looked at the pirate with a worried frown on her forehead. Had she misconstrued her signals? The kiss had been... Her heart was threatening to race out of her chest.

"No...I find that I do."

Captain Rizzoli hesitated a moment, before answering in kind.

Lady Fairfield had not been kissed by someone who meant it for years, she sighed against the pirate's surprisingly soft lips and pressed herself flush against her as the kiss deepened. And deepened... She realised that she had wanted to take the pirate's full lower lip between hers and suck on it gently since she first saw her.

"Captain, there are some stains on your shirt, maybe we ought to take it off..."

She snuck her hand inside the collar to caress the pirate's strong shoulder.

"It's just gunpowder and tar, it's alright...

Slowly, she eased the loose white shirt out of the black buckskin breeches, looking into Captain Rizzoli's eyes.

"Oh... I see. Are you comfortable? May I help you remove any offending items of clothing?"

"Ah, captain... Manners will get you anywhere. Now that you mention it, I am a little warm in these undergarments."

Captain Rizzoli smiled at her, a rakish, roguish smile, full of swagger and confidence.

"Captain? What is your christian name? I cannot call you "captain" in the throes of passion..." she whispered against her long, elegant neck.

"Jane..."

She had expected something more exotic, something more in line with the pirate's appearance, but she supposed even pirates had conventional mothers.

"Nice to meet you Jane. I'm Maura Isles. Never mind the 'mylady' bit."

"Nice to 'meet' you too, Maura...

The pirate raised a suggestive eyebrow and quickly leaned in for another kiss. Maura melted into her. She hadn't been touched in so long, she had almost forgotten what it was like. It was so different from her husband's caress... She gasped involuntarily when one of the pirates hands slipped down her collarbone and brushed over her breast. It was almost polite in its gentleness.

"There is such a thing as too much manners, Jane." she whispered in her ear.

Looking deep into her eyes, she took the surprisingly delicate hand in hers. She kissed the calloused mark in the middle of her palm and put it back on her breast. The look on the pirate's face when her hand shaped around its softness was almost as arousing as the touch itself. Her eyes burned with a dark fire that made Maura suddenly feel like she was tired of all the games and the teasing.  
She looked at Jane's heavy sword belt and swallowed audibly, before slowly starting to unbuckle it. She wasn't behaving anything like a lady should. It was exhilarating... Slowly, she slid the soft buckskin down the pirate's endless legs, almost shocking in their lanky, silky perfection. The stockings followed. She luxuriated in the feel of warm skin under her hands as she slid them back up where she assumed she would find some sort of undergarment where the skin was now covered by her long shirt. But apart from the very satisfying sound of Jane's breath becoming distinctly irregular, she found nothing but soft femininity.  
The somewhat transparent fabric of the shirt was now the only thing between her and naked skin. She started to slide it up, hands trembling a little, from arousal and anticipation. But the pirate gently grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Maura... I'm at a disadvantage. Let me even out the odds?"

She ached to see the rest of Jane, but she reluctantly nodded her consent as the pirate started to undress her. For some reason, it didn't surprise her how tender she was. Those confusingly soft and yet damaged hands handled her like she was something precious, a treasure captured. When her chemise was pulled over her head and discarded, the softness and breathlessness in Jane's voice took her own breath away.

"You're beautiful..."

Captain Rizzoli took her hand and kissed it, moving on to her shoulder and her neck, making her throw her head back and sigh in pleasure. She let Jane explore her exposed skin for a few minutes, revelling in her passion and dedication to the task.

"You too..."

Jane nodded consent and lifted her shirt over her head.

Maura stared at her, captivated: how could something look so soft and so powerful at the same time..? Her first thought was that it was a waste to hide such beauty in masculine attire, but she remembered how the clash between delicate and coarse, femininity and masculine confidence had excited her. Did excite her...

"Maura... Has anyone ever told you that you think too much?"

"Frequently", Maura whispered as she dragged the tips of her fingers down the pirate's stomach and marvelled in the softness of touching another woman's skin.

"I'll try to make you stop..."

"Please... "

Maura relaxed in Jane's embrace: the intensity of being skin to skin took her breath away.  
When she gently pushed her down and towered benevolently over her, black curls falling down over her shoulders, tickling the skin of her chest, she felt like there was nothing she wouldn't allow Jane to do.

"Your husband is a fool..." Jane whispered before leaning down and covering her skin with kisses.

Her skillful hands knew other things than how to wield a sword. She followed every curve like she was appraising a treasure, measuring her value. A tentative hand caressed its way up her inner thigh and finally gently rested against her sex, immobile.

"Jane... Please move your hand..."

Black Rizzoli did and Maura couldn't help gasping from the sensation.

"Am I hurting you...?"

The light touch of the pirate's lips on her ear as she whispered made the throbbing sensation under her hand intensify.

Maura smiled softly.

"Only my pride if you don't keep touching me..."

Jane bent her head down, kissed her breast and closed her mouth around her nipple, suckling her like a baby. Maura arched up into the touch, marvelling at how such a subtle movement could set her whole body on fire. Admittedly, she had had only one lover before Jane, but she was certain the pirate had unusually good instinct. At least when it came to touching her...  
Jane's eyes burned as she moved her fingers through her copious wetness: Maura might have been embarrassed by her own wantonness as she moved against her and moaned. But there was something so surreal about this whole situation, she didn't feel like any of the normal rules applied. She didn't feel like herself at all. Or maybe she felt more like herself?  
She felt a tension in her lower stomach, a tingling sensation that she had only experienced by herself, when her own hands explored the sensitive parts of her body when Garrett lacked the patience.

"Jane... Come closer..."

She impatiently grabbed the pirates shoulders to encourage her to put her full weight on her. Jane lay down in the cradle of her thighs and Maura could feel the slick warmth of her sex against her own. She wasn't sure if the wetness she felt on her thigh or the bead of sweat on her chest was hers or Jane's anymore.  
Slowly, Jane started moving against her, providing the friction Maura desperately needed. She hooked her legs around her waist and moved with her. Her whole body was tight as a coil now, she had never been this sexually 's total focus on her pleasure was the greatest aphrodisiac of all: Garrett had been self-centered even at the best of times.

"Don't stop..."

"No chance of that..."

She looked into Jane's eyes and saw a hunger matching her own. Her fingers dug into the soft muscles of her strong hips involuntarily as she approached the peak of unbearable tension. Jane instinctively increased pressure and pace, sending Maura over the edge, muffling her cries against her benevolent kidnapper's soft neck.

Maura took a few seconds to bask in the heady feeling of euphoria that followed. Jane pulled her close again.

"I had no idea it would be like that to touch another woman... I bet there's nothing in Encyclopaedia Britannica about that... "

The pirate smiled teasingly at her and kissed her lips lightly.

"It's not about books as such, more about the practical knowledge they can impart... I would be eager to test some of it out in practise."

"I'd like that..."

Jane looked a little reluctant when she reversed the positions and gently pushed her onto her back, but the helpless groaning when Maura's warm lips started to move up her inner thigh and higher spoke of surrender. There was nothing decorous about what she was about to do. She had seen pictures of it in one of her father's books, the one with wood carvings from India that he thought she hadn't found at the top shelf of the library. Jane's gasp when she pressed her lips against her exposed sex told her that the book had been correct in describing how pleasurable it would be. Touching and tasting her like this, impossibly intimate, should probably have felt strange and certainly indecent, but Maura had known from the beginning that she wanted her in the worst possible way. Her heart was pounding irregularly, her hands were unsteady and her body ached dully from desire. She had never felt an urge to devour someone like she did Jane. The fact that Jane seemed to feel the same way made her intoxicated in the way that not even the greatest rum Black Rizzoli could find could accomplish.  
It took more time and patience than she had imagined, but she really didn't mind the aching jaw, since the only response she could get out of Jane was a whispered "Don't stop" and a continuous soft moaning to indicate her state of arousal. Her climax was the most wondrous thing she had ever seen. No book could have prepared her for how that made her feel.

Afterwards, they lay closely together, still naked and uncovered. It felt deliciously wicked: Maura had never slept naked in her life, not even on her wedding night: it wasn't done.

"Those must have been some books, mylady..."

"Maura."

"Maura..."

She had never heard her name sound like that, full of debauchery and promise in the pirate's velvety post-coital voice. This was what her name was supposed to sound like.  
This woman was not just just good at finding loot and treasure, she was also adept at stealing hearts. At least this one...

She listened contentedly to Jane regaling her with adventures at sea, until the big bad pirate fell asleep almost mid sentence, head on Maura's shoulder. She knew it was ridiculous to feel this happy, she had no idea what fate had in store, but she felt no fear when she kissed Black Rizzoli's jet black locks before dozing off herself.

Her desire woke her up in the morning, still wrapped around the pirate, using only a fraction of that huge bed. Jane looked so peaceful when she slept, she almost didn't like to wake her up. She studied the shadow of her impossibly long eyelashes on her cheek for a few moments, but her body screamed at her to act.

"Jane? Are you still sleeping?"

She caressed a strong shoulder, a collar bone, a delicate neck and let her tongue follow.

"That thing you did last night..."

"Good morning..."

Maura smiled against Jane's sleep warm skin and kept kissing her way up to her defined jaw.  
She paused and smiled at her.

"You can say the words, Jane, it's alright. I'm starting to wonder who grew up in a sheltered environment, you or me..."

"I sure didn't have access to a library full of dirty books."

"Jane! They're not dirty, it's art! Very useful art, admittedly..."

"Very useful, yes..."

Jane raised one shockingly perfect eyebrow and Maura just had to kiss her again.

"That thing you did... I want to do it to you..."

Jane's voice, the warm breath on her and the expectations of what was to come made her shiver.

"I like seeing you in daylight... Silk doesn't do you justice, you should be naked constantly."

"Jane!"

But secretly, Maura loved the complement. And for some reason, it felt completely natural to be naked with Jane. She ran the tips of her finger over Maura's shoulder, her collarbone and down to her cleavage, where Jane brushed one of her nipples, smiling at the strong reaction she got from the feather light touch.

Maura's pulse raced as Jane slid down the bed, kissing her way to her goal. Maura discovered that she liked the feeling of her tongue in her belly button, on her hip bone and in the spot above her soft brown curls as well as in the expected places. It would appear that with the right person, touching any part of your body could arouse you. The explicit books had said nothing about that...

When Jane's mouth descended on her, her eyes flew shut and she tried to analyse the feeling but gave up almost immediately.

"Jane? Maybe just a little to the lef... Aaah, yes, right there..."

Maura froze as she heard heavy steps up on deck and a loud knock.

"Go away, I'm in the middle of parlai."

Jane smiled sensuously at her.

"Now where were we?"

There was the knock on the door again. Jane groaned and not from pleasure this time.

"Captain, we should think about division of the spoils, the men are restless to know what their share is."

The voice of quartermaster Korsak sounded so near that Maura had to quell the impulse of covering herself up.

"Divide it in equal shares between yourself and the crew. Anything that belongs to Lady Fairfield you leave."

"Equal shares? Even for Crow?"

"Even Crow. I'm in a good mood today."

Jane lowered her warm lips to her sex again, Maura gasped and tried desperately to keep quiet and stop squirming.

"What about you?"

Jane only paused to bark a short reply.

"I don't want anything that was taken from the Surgeon."

She looked up at Maura.

"I already got my prize." she whispered and brushed her lips against the inside of her thigh.

Maura's eyes filled with tears and she cursed herself for being so sappy, but she couldn't help it. The pirate spoke to her with such gentleness and she wasn't used to that...

"Korsak?"

"Yes?"

"Go. Away."

"Aye aye, captain."

They could hear him mutter something about never hearing of a parlai that lasted all night, but were both relieved when the sound of his footsteps grew fainter.

Jane didn't need books. No library with the a secret top shelf. She was a very quick study. A few whispered instructions here and there and Maura crashed over the edge with such intensity she discovered that the hand she had had buried in Jane's hair still clutched a few strands of raven in them. She feared she had been loud enough for quartermaster Korsak to comprehend just what sort of parlai this actually was, but she was beyond caring.

"I think I like that book of yours..."

Jane had a cat that ate the canary smile on her face when she rolled over on her back and Maura could see she was rightfully proud of herself.

"I think I do too..."

But there was one other thing she wanted to know: she crawled on top of Jane and slid her fingers through her wetness. Jane seemed to have enjoyed the previous activity almost as much as she had. She took a tight nipple in her mouth and sucked on it, hard. Jane moved her hips involuntarily against her hand. Maura continued her gentle, slow motions until Jane was restless and loud underneath her. She carefully entered her with two fingers and heard herself moan in the suddenly quiet room.

"Are you comfortable?"

Jane nodded and her eyes flew shut as Maura moved inside of her. She had always wanted to know what it was like for a man to be inside of a woman. She would never know exactly, of course, but she knew this for sure: taking another woman was exhilarating and empowering. She felt on top of the world as Jane groaned softly and spread her legs wider. Maura experimentally moved her fingers against the hot, silky walls, mesmerised by the rich variation of reactions she got from Jane. When Jane finally climaxed and drenched her hand in her appreciation, Maura felt a little bit like she deserved to be the captain of something too.

Afterwards, Maura reclined on the bed, basking in the afterglow, her cheeks and chest still warm and rosy from the arousal and subsequent climax. She watched Jane as she leaned over the wash basin and ran a damp cloth all over her body. She marvelled at the fact that she wanted her again, as she saw the droplets of moisture travel down her naked body, just minutes after watching her climax in her arms. She was the most... beautiful? Handsome? She wasn't sure what word to pick, but she had never found anything as visually appealing as Black Rizzoli naked, she was certain of that much.

Jane saw the look on her face and took her in her arms and kissed her deeply, sincerely. The intensity set off a warning bell in Maura's head and she looked quizzically at Jane.

"I'm going to miss you, Maura... This night will always be special to me, I'll never forget you. I'll try to get a merchant captain I know to set you and that husband of yours ashore at Port St Etienne later today, you can make your way pretty much anywhere from there."

"You're going to release me...? Today?"

Maura's eye filled with tears again and this time, she couldn't hold them back.

"Really? You intend to cry on me?"

Captain Rizzoli looked intensely uncomfortable.

"I will have you know I have no control of my amygdalas connection to my lacrimal glands!"

"If I've done something to offend you, I apologise. As you have pointed out, I have no clue how to behave in polite society."

"Yes, you've done something to offend me! You've made me care for you! And now you intend to dispose of me like a cask of rum that wasn't of high enough quality! Then you might as well have tied me to the mast and gagged me too, it would have been kinder!"

She knew she shouldn't be screaming at the pirate like this, it had indeed been very pleasant for a kidnapping, but she just hadn't calculated on Jane wanting to get rid of her, when she herself already had all of these disturbing feelings, making her all soft inside... She just couldn't imagine never kissing her again.

"Come on Maura... What do you want from me?"

"Take me with you. I want to sail the seven seas with you, Jane."

"But Maura... This is no life for a lady. I couldn't do that to belong at Fairfield Manor, in your library, clad in silks and velvet. What life could a simple pirate like me offer a woman like you?"

"An exhilarating one? A life away from the artificial and tortuous restraints placed on a modern woman in the name of polite society! A life of self-improvement and discovery. And while I am rather fond of my silk dresses and calf skin boots, we would still be pirates, would we not? We could simply rob a pirate who robbed a silk merchant, could we not?"

"You're a gentlewoman, what could you possibly see in me? I drink rum by the cup, enjoy a good fight and sometimes send my enemies to walk the plank. My manners are uncouth and my quarters plain."

"I'm adopted. For all I know, my birth parents might be pirates too. Or beggars. You are twice as honourable and twice the man my husband is, Jane. Your manners might be a work a progress, but I can assist in furthering your education."

"Oh, can you now?"

"I can. Also, I am something of a prodigy. I think you will find I'm likely the best navigator you have ever met, a competent astronomer, I know something about canon ball ballistics and I'm both a better surgeon and medic than any of your motley crew. Also, I'm a lady, I know a good jemstone when I see one."

"You forgot to mention humble."

"Did I?"

Lady Maura's forehead scrunched quizzically.

"However, I will have you know that it doesn't take much to be considered a prodigy with the current level of education and lack of enlightenment."

She wrapped her arms around the pirate.

"As for the rest... Your lips, your hands and your bed are certainly good enough for me..."

She took Captain Rizzoli's hand and placed it on her ample cleavage.

"Maura... I... Oh, for god's sake, alright! As long as you don't cry!"

***  
Jane was gazing at the horizon through a monocular and Maura was sitting daintily next to her on the rail, trying not to look disapprovingly at the tar stain on her winter white silk shoe. Piracy would definitely require a more robust wardrobe. She was eagerly studying a map Jane had given her and the pirate smiled indulgently at her obvious enthusiasm for the subject. Maura looked up and into the smiling midnight eyes.

"I want to know all about you. What were your other lovers like?"

"I've had two kinds: the ones who hated that I was a pirate and the ones who wanted me to tie them up with scraps of yardarm and bark orders at them. Very tiresome. And then there was Lieutenant Grant... I rather liked him. But he wanted to go back to the navy, so I released him from captivity."

"Alright, stop. That was quite enough, it seems. Will you have other lovers when I sail with you?"

Maura's jealousy when Jane had mentioned that Grant fellow, who was obviously an idiot, had been surprisingly strong. Jane took her hand in her warm calloused one and shook her head.

"Even a greedy pirate will settle for the finest treasure in the chest. Which reminds me of something I forgot yesterday."

She reached for something in her pocket and held her other hand out. Maura felt tears in her eyes again. Her mother's ring...

"You're not getting down on one knee?"

"You're joking?"

But when she saw Maura's steely gaze, she rolled her eyes and got down in a smooth motion.

"Maura Isles, will you be my navigator?"

"Jane... I don't know what to say, that's so sweet.."

"Oh, gross! Just kiss me, wench!"

And Lady Maura did. Or rather Petticoats Maura, the best dressed pirate who ever sailed the Caribbean, did...


	2. The Filthy Pirate

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews, support and DM! (Please don't send e-mail adresses on here, they get deleted and you will assume I'm ignoring you, which I am not... Feel free to write to me on Twitter (clillaryhinton1) tumblr (clillaryhinton).

Was going to leave this as a one-shot, but then thought what the heck, if y'all liked it, you should get more! It's not going to be one of those marathon things, but will try to amuse you while it lasts. Mwah!

As usual, I would be lost without my beta, the lovely Crackinois.

So here we go, the further adventures of Black Rizzoli and Petticoats Maura!

The pirate put her arm around the lady's waist and yanked her close. Her prisoner struggled against her firm hold, but she was surprised at how feeble the resistance was. And how pliable she felt against her... Like their bodies were meant to be joined. Her heartbeat was speeding up. There was a look in the lady's eyes that she was sure would be frowned upon in decent society.

"Get your hands off me."

Was that... a smile that played in the corner of her prisoner's mouth, even though the rest of her countenance and posture screamed bloody murder?

"Come now, I thought you knew the rules of piracy? What I can take, I can keep. "

"Are you threatening me, Captain?"

"Would you like me to?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

"Has anyone ever told you how bossy you are?"

"Frequently. Now let me go!"

"I did not become the terror of the Caribbean by sparing prisoners, mylady."

"Terror of the Caribbean? Really?"

"Yes."

She captured her hands and tied them together behind the mast, being careful not to use the normal coarse rope onewould chose to confine a prisoner. There was something about the delicate wrists she was holding that made her loathe to chafe the skin even slightly.

She put her hand on her partially exposed shoulder and studied their skin tones with keen interest. The differences in appearance between them excited her.. Her prisoner was soft in other places, curves distributed differently, rosy contrasting with golden... A face to be worshipped. A will of steel to be cowed... She moved her hand down and traced her collarbone and further. Her eyes flew shut as she felt the soft hillock of her breast, straining out of its corseted confines, heaving underneath her hand. Time to show the wilful lady who was captain of this Ship.

"This is a disgusting display of power, captain."

"You're doing a poor impression of disgust, mylady.."

She got down on one knee and slid her hand under her prisoner's skirts. Light as a feather, it traveled up her leg and lingered at the back of her knee, just to tease her.

"What are you doing...?"

"Claiming my prize. Exercising my right as captain to chose what bounty I take."

The lady's cheeks burned red, her captor could see her throbbing pulse and trembling hands as she reached the inside of her thigh. The silk was soft and warm under her hand, but it was the heat of her feminine prisoner above the garter that burned her. Staying in control wasn't as easy as she had imagined. She found her own hand unsteady and fought to ignore the throbbing in her belly. She nervously adjusted her buckskin trousers to accommodate the growing wetness between her legs. Her prisoner moaning softly did not help her discomfort.

She played for a few moments with the hem of the undergarments, a fine and expensive material, far from what a rough pirate would wear.

"Captain, aren't you going to..."

"Impatient?"

"Only to get this insult over with!"

She took a silk scarf from the back of a chair.

"M'lady, I think this will help against that opinionated mouth of yours..."

She lifted it and slid it against a darkly blushing cheek.

"You wouldn't!"

"I wouldn't? But I think I would..." She slid the silk of the scarf against the silk of the defiant mouth.

"On second thought, you may be right... I think I have other uses for those pretty lips of yours."

She grabbed a fistful of curls as she pressed up against the confined woman and kissed her. The response was greedy, hungry, far from the vocal resistance she had faced earlier. But she had known it would be all along. The lady's mouth said one thing, her body another. Fortunately, she only paid heed to the latter.

Suddenly, she yelped in pain. She pulled back and looked at the smug look on her prisoner's face.

"You think a little biting will deter me from what I want?"

"Probably not, considering that you rival Calico Jack when it comes to..."

"Be quiet, wench."

The second kiss was bruising, to get back at her for her throbbing lower lip. But it was such sweet pain... This time, the lady moaned into her mouth and the smug look was entirely on the captain's face now.

Her leather clad leg slowly pressed up against her prisoner's warm centre, but she wanted her closer, she craved skin. She crouched again and slid the undergarment slowly down the stockinged leg. The objections had stopped even if there was still a furious fire burning in her soulful eyes.  
When her hand returned to the warm inner thigh, the captive leaned into her, involuntarily. Knowing that the lady was now completely exposed to touch under her skirts made her mouth dry.  
She rose back up and kissed her. This time, she didn't even bother trying to hide her hunger.  
Swiftly, she grabbed a small dagger and cut the bow holding her beautiful prisoner's corset. God only knew she didn't need one anyway, she was shaped perfectly. She couldn't take her eyes off the swell of her breasts, as they heaved in front of her, released from their confines. She could tell the lady intended to yell at her, so she kissed her again, preemptively.

"That's from Paris, you know..."

There was no shouting this time, she sounded out of breath from the kissing and her voice seemed to have lowered an octave since she last spoke.

She yanked hard on the corset, making it fall to the floor untied.

"Now it's on the floor of my bedroom."

The captain ran her hands over the chemise under it, sliding her palm over a soft, dusky pink nub. She pushed the loose fitting garment down over the shapely shoulders so the full glory of the other woman's chest was exposed. She bent down and swirled her tongue around the areola before closing her lips around the rapidly contracting nipple. Its owner groaned softly as her captor suckled it. She breathed gently on it, eliciting another instantaneousresponse. She lingered there until the tied-up woman got restless, pulling against her constraints. The little noise of disappointment when she stopped was very rewarding... She inclined her head further and kissed the side of one of the wench's perfect breasts, willfully leaving a mark to show ownership, but in a place only she could see. The mark was a private message.

She eased the skirts up further to alleviate access. When soft buckskin touched the exposed sex, the noise of approval was unmistakable. Her hand followed. She closed her eyes when she felt the hot moisture on her fingers. She had to focus to take it slowly. She moved a fraction, a tiny part of an inch. Her formerly so rebellious prisoner's breathing was uneven, fast, loud in the quiet room. She caressed her so lightly and gently, it must have bordered on torture. Slowly, she built the tension and brought her to the edge. Every moan sounded more and more like a sob.  
But she was patient. Well, she wasn't really, this particular prisoner brought something out of her that made her feel like an insatiable animal. But she could wait...

"Captain..."

"Yes?"

"Please... More..."

And there itwas, what she had been waiting for. She wanted her prisoner to beg her kidnapper to take her. It was much more fun that way...

She pressed her back against the mast and entered her swiftly, God knows she was ready for her. Cupping her neck in her hand, she swallowed her moaning with kisses. She increased the friction of the buckskin against her most sensitive place. The noises she was making, the rosy blushing of her cheeks and how she could feel how wet she was even through the leather, conspired to make her close to climax herself, but she wanted to wait for her conquest, she wanted to be fully conscious and focussed when it happened.

When the waves of orgasm rippled through her prisoner, she held her close and heard her own name whispered between laboured breaths. Her head fell on her shoulder as she comfortingly rubbed her tied wrists, before releasing the restraints.

"Jane, are you alright?"

The pirate nodded and smiled a soft, post-coital smile as her released hands fell from the bedpost serving as a makeshift mast and wrapped around Maura's neck. She pulled her onto the bed and gathered her up in her arms.

"Will you ever tire of that?"

"Getting to ravish a gorgeous, fierce woman, with whom I also happen to be very much in love? No, I don't suspect I will."

"Because that was... Awesome... 'Captain'. I can't believe you ruined that corset from Paris. I also can't believe you make me wear it in the first place..."

"Firstly, it's from London, not Paris."

Jane rolled her eyes, but Maura would not be deterred.

"The Paris model has a different fit, I don't like it as much. Secondly, I didn't ruin it, I have spare lacing for it. Lastly, it makes you look perfectly indecent when you wear it with just my chemise. I find your normal attire very sexy, but variety adds spice, don't you think?"

"At least I don't have to wear it for long... If it were anyone but you, I would keelhaul them for suggesting it."

Jane smiled her roguish smile again and Maura marvelled at the fact that shecould be made weak in the knees while lying down...

"Can I have my trousers back now?"

"No, I don't think so. They're disconcertingly comfortable, if a far cry from the latest ladies fashion. And I like wearing things that smell like you."

"I smell like me... Wear me instead."

Maura smiled sensuously at her as she played with the black locks streaming over Jane's shoulder onto hers.

"I wasn't jesting about the bossy bit."

"That would be more convincing if it didn't come from the woman who just tied me to a bedpost and made me behave like a wanton hussy and love it. Just because you boss people around with genteel manners doesn't mean that you're not every bit as bossy as me."

Maura looked at her with a mixture of inquisitiveness, mirth and a hint of displeasure.

"Yes, it does, you're the captain of a pirate ship, that's virtually the lexical meaning of bossy. But, since I'm apparently convincing, can I captain the Ship tomorrow?"

"Honey, let me tell you a secret: you're already commander of this Ship "

"I am?"

Jane nodded. She grinned at her and put Maura's hand on her breast.

"I know something you can be in charge of, right now... Although it's my turn to be captain."

"I hereby commandeer you, and this bedroom, for the sole purpose of my pleasure."

Jane smiled against Maura's eager lips. She had known right from the start who was the prisoner of whom here.

"Aye aye, 'captain'."

"Do I look like a mutinous hell hound?"

Jane almost dropped her hat and looked at Maura with raised eyebrows.

"Do you look like a 'mutinous hell hound'?"

"I'm trying to learn to talk like a pirate!"

Maura beamed excitedly at her.

"Uh-uh... Who gave you a book this time? Are you reading the one about the countess who got kidnapped by pirates again? Cause that was just not realistic..."

"It wasn't supposed to be, it was supposed to be erotic. And I do remember it having a very enjoyable effect on you when I read certain parts aloud... But seriously, Jane. I want to learn as much as I can, I want to fit in!"

Jane took her in her arms and looked into the honest hazel eyes.

"Honey, you're fine the way you are, you don't have to 'fit in'."

"Aww, Jane... "

Jane rolled her eyes, but smiled at the same time.

As she left her quarters, she looked back at Maura, posing with her sabre for practise.

"Jane...?"

"Yes, Maura. You look like a 'mutinous hell hound.' "

She smiled lovingly at her. Maura might not look like a mutinous anything, but she certainly looked lovely, desirable and so pleased with her new life that Jane's heart ached. But there was no way in hell she would ever truly blend in with this rough environment and this crazy life. Feeling this way about Maura was going to make Jane's chosen life so much more difficult and herself much more vulnerable, she was very well aware of that. As well as the fact that there was nothing she wouldn't do to keep her safe...  
She wasn't sure taking her to the Filthy Pirate with the crew was a good idea, Maura wasn't used to such uncouth company, but she knew she couldn't keep her safely tucked away in her bedroom or even on this Ship forever: if she was going to be a part of her life, she had to get to see it and get to know her, warts and all. She would just see to it that she kept her well protected. And Maura was tougher than people assumed, Jane knew that better than anyone...

The crew was looking forward to a night ashore, they had been out at sea for a long stint. Jane just hoped they didn't get into any real trouble. Bostone Bay might be a safe haven for pirates and the most lawless town in the Caribbean, but just because the Royal Navy weren't out to get you didn't mean that there wasn't a knife edge with the name of the pirate with a foul attitude on it out there... She also expected there might be bids for Maura's... affections, or rather the delicious fair expanse of skin underneath that tidy outfit, that would almost certainly be the odd look out in that shady tavern... She would have to be careful to keep the balance between keeping her protected and trying to avoid getting into skirmishes, she didn't want to worry Maura. In time, her high born companion would realise just how dangerous the life of a pirate was, there was no reason to lay it all on her at once...

"Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Aren't you changing?"

"Changing what?"

"Your clothes? You're not going out like that, are you?"

"Maura... These are my going out clothes. These are my going everywhere clothes."

"Hmm. We should have some new shirts made for you."

"Maura..."

"Come now, it's not like I said we should have an evening gown made..."

"Oh, alright..."

Jane sighed. Much more complicated...

***  
"Vanilla! Lookin' tasty as ever..."

A beggar sat below the wind worn sign announcing the location of the Filthy Pirate.

"Rondo... Don't force me to use my pistols."

"Sorry, sorry... That's _Captain_Vanilla to me! Still looking good!"

"Watch it, pegleg. Get a mug of ale, ought to shut your mouth for a moment."

Jane flung a copper coin at him and Maura could have sworn she saw a hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth.

As they walked through the narrow door, Maura slid her coat from her shoulders.

"Oh my God... Put that back on!"

"No!"

Maura shook her head vigorously. This outfit was indeed significantly more daring than what she normally wore, she almost blushed herself when she looked down on her generously exposed chest. But this is what she had been informed that lawless ladies wore. And you could say many things about Maura Isles, but not that she couldn't dress right for the occasion.  
Jane kept muttering as Maura went through the door of the infamous tavern, head held high, but she paid her no heed.

Maura's eyes went wide. The Filthy Pirate was bustling with people, even at this relatively early hour. She tried to contain a smile of excitement when she realised why Jane hadn't wanted to change her clothes. This was a place for pirates, paupers and prostitutes, criminals, corsairs and blaggards. Not a civilised soul in sight. The volume was high, the voices coarse and the atmosphere the opposite of polite. It was all very exciting...  
She blushed as a scantily dressed woman, one of her breasts bared by an indecently sheer blouse hanging off one shoulder, approached them. She was certainly well endowed by nature, which was just as well, since her personal hygiene and state of sobriety left something to be desired...  
The loose woman looked at Jane and grinned.

"For a scrawny lad like you, I could give a special rate. Maybe a first timer's fee, half a piaster? Handsome boy like you, wouldn't be no great hardship showing you the way of the world... A right nice coat you have on ye laddie, did yah steal that off yer old father?"

Maura gasped in outrage as the lewd hussy grabbed Jane's crotch with a crooked smile.

She took a step forward and was just about to hiss something surprisingly uncivilised as another prostitute whispered in the first one's ear: the woman's face fell and she backed off.  
Jane removed her hat, showed her face and made her rich tangle of black curls tumble down her back. She scowled at the two ladies of the night.

"Captain Rizzoli... I didn't mean no disrespect, sir... M'am. I just reckoned you was a lad that needed a companion for the night, I..."

"For the love of God, stop while yer ahead, Daisy, before yah get us all killed..."

"Maybe you need to desist attempting conjecture, it is really not a forte for you." Maura said coldly.

The loose woman stared at her with a vacant expression that might have been amusing if she hadn't been so enraged at her forwardness.

Jane put a soothing hand on her arm.

"Get ye a mug of ale on my expense and keep to the boys for the rest of the evening."

They scurried off and she turned to Maura.

"Honey, I think you will find that the patrons of this tavern are less educated than the people you are normally used to... So maybe try to hold the dictionary speak...?"

"I will do my utmost."

"And try not to get us into any brawls at least for the first quarter of an hour, will ye? We should try to keep a reasonably low profile, least we be shown out of here by way of a boot in our nether regions. Mrs Gerritsen is very strict about no skirmishes in her establishment..."

Maura nodded meekly. She realised she had a lot to learn about socialising with this clientele... She froze as she suddenly felt a hand on her backside, too large to be Jane's.

"Someone seems to have accidentally left a hand on your private area. Unfortunate mishap, since anyone who touches my wench without my permission forfeits the limb used for the purpose."

Jane's eyes were aflame with rage: she seemed to have forgotten all about the rules of bar brawling and keeping a low profile...

The smelly, toothless man who was the hand's owner was drunk enough to keep the leer on his face for a few more seconds before it sank in and he let her go like a hot piece of coal.

"Now now... No brawling in the Filthy Pirate, you know that, captain... Let me escort this gentleman outside and you and the crew can find something to drink."

The small woman smiled at Jane like someone who knew very well who was actually in charge. Jane's nostrils were still flaring and her jaw clenched as she appraised the drunkard. Reluctantly, she put her sword away. He was pathetic enough to be deemed harmless.

Maura wasn't sure what she ought to be thinking of Jane's display of jealousy. She should think it uncivilised. But her body suddenly ached to be close to her and be possessed by her, so it was evident that it disagreed. Maybe a side effect of being married to a man who ignored you for years...

Jane's face was surprisingly soft as she embraced Mrs Gerritsen.

"I do. My apologies."

Jane's hand rested possessively in the small of her back as she guided her towards a table that quickly and suddenly cleared to make room for them. Jane scowled at anyone who would even look at them, but Maura suspected that had to do more with habit than with actual perceived threats.

First mate Frost had gone to the bar to get them a round of drinks.

"The rum here isn't as good as the one we have onboard..."

Maura pouted without realising it, which made Jane smile. Her wench's sensitive palate's struggle with getting accustomed to the rougher fare of a pirate's life was strangely endearing. The things she was giving up to be with her made her go all soft inside...

"Try the ale?"

Maura didn't really drink ale. But she had gotten used to drinking and eating many new things lately, not to mention doing a whole bunch of things that she could not even have imagined doing six months ago... She'd be damned if she couldn't learn the etiquette of a pirate's life. She had managed to learn the proper ways of high society and that had challenges far greater than drinking a mug of ale... Or so she had thought. It was absolutely revolting. She spat the mouthful out on the sawdust floor and looked accusingly at Jane.

"This ale is vile!"

"It's the Filthy Pirate, everything here is vile!." Jane said cheerfully.

She summoned one of the barmaids, the only one decently dressed, Maura observed.

"Ms Tamaro, will you ask Mrs Gerritsen for some of the good rum, for the lady? The special kind, from under the counter?"

She took a gold coin out of her pocket and handed over to the surly looking woman.

"Certainly, if the lady doesn't mind being seen drinking hard liquor in public, captain..."

"She does not." Jane said levelly. Maura could see she was trying to keep her temper in check despite the fact that the barmaid had obviously meant it as a slight of character.

She didn't leave.

"There are some persons of interest here today for single ladies... That poor gentleman over there, Mr Casey, might have some trouble with his legs, but he used to be in the navy and now he keeps the books for a local shipping company. A respectable, solid choice. Someone with your unconventional background would be lucky to land a husband like that, _captain.._."  
Even her voice managed to purse its lips while using Jane's title. She turned to Maura.

"And Mr Faulkner over there is in the export business. I have heard he's on the lookout for a well mannered, god fearing wife."

Jane laughed supposedly heartily, but Maura could see the dangerous glint in her eye.

"The first one is a mercenary and a privateer, a sabre for hire and the other is an unconscionable smuggler and a thief. Peglegs Rondo, the old drunkard who hangs around outside, would make a more suitable choice for a husband. I captain a buccaneer ship. I need a husband to tell me what to do like an octopus needs a pisspot."

"You should be careful. People might get the wrong idea about the nature of your relationship."

"Really? And what idea is that?"

"That something improper is going on."

"Sometimes people merely see what they want to see. It's all in the eye of the beholder."

Maura smiled at the barmaid, the same bright, sunny smile as always. But Jane was getting to know her well, she could see the coldness in her eye and feel her stiffen next to her.

"And sometimes, things are just the way they appear. In the eye of the beholder," Maura said, eyes narrowed with displeasure.

She patted her knee and Maura sat down, daintily and ramrod straight, like she had been taught. But when she saw the scandalised look on Mrs Tamaro's face, she couldn't resist snuggling up to Jane. She looked deeply into her eyes. Jane looked back at her like a lover would. She couldn't have faked another look in her eyes if she tried.

"My wench and I are otherwise engaged, kindly go fetch us something with which to wet our whistles."

"Come now, Janet... I have told you not to bother the custumers. Not every lady is on the lookout for a husband."

"No ma'am. My apologies, Mrs Gerritsen."

Mrs Tamaro looked anything but sorry as she walked off with a final disapproving look.

"Poor Janet, she's had a hard life. I'm afraid she has a less than sunny disposition... Convention is something of an obsession with her. I apologise if she inconvenienced you."

Mrs Gerritsen brought Maura some of the good rum herself and winked at her.

"You two sure are pretty as a picture together..."

Maura smiled at her, genuinely this time and leaned her head on Jane's shoulder.

Maura watched this new world and was riveted. It had its own rules and social mores, just like the world she came from. It would only take practise to master them, even if this would be made harder by the lack of a book of etiquette and proper behaviour. She was fascinated at how no one seemed to question Jane's authority or challenge her for being female in a man's world.

"A vastly exaggerated reputation precedes me. Every pirate who's ever lost a fight to me has told a tall tale about what a rabid dog I am, insane, dangerous and impossible to beat, so they won't seem weak for losing to a woman. In order to save their own reputation, they have built mine. I don't fight as much as scowl and touch the scabbard of my sword these days. Don't get me wrong, I can win a fight, but I don't usually have to. I would be grateful if you would appear frightened of me, if need arises."

"Oh, I will."

Maura bent over and whispered teasingly in her ear:

"But you will be making it up to me in the bedroom. You look lovely in my corsets."

"Yeahyeahyeah..."

The terror of the Caribbean scowled at her. But Maura saw the mirth and affection in the ebony eyes. And the arousal. Jane didn't need to dress up for her, she only needed to look at her like this and Maura was more than happy to let Jane wear the breeches and take command this time... Maura already pictured in her mind what would happen when they returned to the ship.

Jane found her hand under the table and ran the tips of her fingers along her mother's ring. What was Jane, really? Her beaux? Her lady friend? Her... wife? She knew they would never be legally married, but that didn't stop her stomach from filling with butterflies every time she looked down on the keepsake from her mother, the ring Jane had given to her, kneeling down on the deck...  
Maura understood the need to keep the Jane she got to see a secret. The tenderness she showed her could mean her death if it started a rumour that Black Rizzoli had gone soft, could be easily conquered...

"This is for you, from the... gentleman over there."

Mrs Gerritsen shrugged apologetically, as if saying that she knew full well that the person who had sent the mug of rum over to Maura was no gentleman.

Jane took it and walked over to Ian Faulkner.

"If I were you, I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't, would you? And why is that?"

"You're asking me why you should stay clear of Petticoats Maura?"

"Aye, captain. I am. "

"Not going to bore you with the details, but last time we had a disagreement, I ended up trembling and begging. You do not want to know what that wench can do with a dagger, a piece of string and a bottle of rum. Still have the marks to prove it. She knows human anatomy and is not afraid to use it. The rest of the crew call her Doctor Death. "

Jane thought wistfully about how Maura's talented lips made the now faded mark on the side of her breast. She quietly rose her mug and drank to those dirty... sorry, arty books in the Isles family library. And the student who had read them. The Dr. Death part was true. But only because Maura had a kooky streak and claimed to find decomposing things interesting...

"And that rabid bitch is part of yer crew...?"

"Aye. I find her skills useful."

"How d'yah keep that she-devil from mutiny?"

"I have my ways to keep my crew in check. "

Jane took out a small rusty dagger and started cleaning her fingernails with it and raised her eyebrow suggestively. She was well aware that the rust looked for all the world like blood. Faulkner nodded with a guarded expression on his face. Maura smiled politely at him and he flinched like a rum merchant who had just seen the Jolly Roger appear on the horizon. Jane smiled back at Maura. Faulkner would certainly spread the word. If a pirate with a bad reputation and a ruthless smuggler feared Petticoats Maura, so would the rest of Bostone Bay, which is just the way Jane wanted it.

When it came to controlling Maura, giving her a map, a text in a foreign language or kissing her senseless was usually the best method, but she would never tell that to the likes of Ian Faulkner...

As she got back to her table, Korsak walked through the door. Jane froze as she saw the look on his face. She knew it far too well.

"Captain, he's out. He's on the loose in Bostone Bay.

She didn't need to ask who. She put her head in her hands. She had been too soft, she had known it all along. She should have killed him...

"Hoyt..."

"There was someone on the inside helping him..."

The priest, sitting in the corner, face concealed by a floppy hat, raised his head and looked at the pretty fair haired lady, sitting next to Black Rizzoli in such a refined manner, as if she were at a tea party at Windsor Castle and not in this shabby tavern. She and the pirate clashed in both manners and appearance, but there was an unmistakable intimacy and familiarity in the way they interacted. The way they looked at each other spoke a clear language. He smiled widely and bent down and fiddled with his pretty white leather bound bible to hide it.

"Janie... You have a weakness now... How wonderful."

He took another sip from the anomalous tea cup in front of him.


	3. LLFPW

Sorry for the wait, I had life... Won't be a super quick updater, but I'll try to keep it up. Y'all can always leave a review, so I know you're getting impatient, if you are... Just saying ;) Hope you like!

The frustration in Jane's eyes was almost painful to see, as they were trying to find where in Bostone Bay the Surgeon had been seen. Maura noticed how her hand seemed to hover right above the handle of one of her pistols, like she expected him to burst in any moment. It was Korsak who found out that he had been seen at an infamous smuggler's den out past the abandoned shipyards.

"Jane? There's a shortcut, you can approach it from the old granary."

Everybody looked at Maura in surprise.

"I thought you had never been in Bostone Bay before...?"

Korsak looked curiously at her.

A gentle smile smoothed out Jane's worried frown for a second.

"Let me guess. You saw a map and memorised it."

"Well, I wouldn't say memorise, I mainly noted that the road system here is inefficient and..."

"Sweetie?"

"Right. Sorry."

Jane placed a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Don't be. You're amazing."

She took her hands.

"You won't like what I'm about to do, but can you please believe that I'm doing it to keep you safe?"

Maura's eyes narrowed as she gave a Jane a cold stare.

"You're going to leave me here while you run off to face that fiend, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"No. I need to be there to make sure you don't go in guns blazing and get yourself killed."

"I'm sorry... But I can't fight him if I can't be sure that you're safe. Mrs Gerritsen's girls and Peglegs Rondo will watch over you."

Maura took a deep breath. She hated this with every fibre of her being, but Jane had a point. She wasn't yet good enough with either gun or sabre to be of real use. And she couldn't have it on conscience that Jane got distracted and hurt because of her.

"OK."

"OK...?"

"I am many things Jane Rizzoli, but lacking in common sense is not one of them. Take care of yourself. If you don't, _I'll _hurt you. Come back to me."

Jane kissed her again.

"I promise. You're my LLFPW, remember?"

"Life Long Favourite Pirate Wench..."

They smiled at eachother and Maura fought the sinking feeling of panic as Jane and her men rushed out of the tavern to catch a killer. Or be caught... This was the first time they had been apart since they met.

She sat down heavily and looked despondently at her empty glass. A barmaid came up to her and patted her shoulder supportively.

"My father was a pirate, I know what you're going through. Here, Jane said to bring you this."

The girl put another mug of the good rum in front of her and Maura smiled. It left a warm dent in the lump of panic in the pit of her stomach.

She started reciting passages she remembered from Thomas Moore's Utopia in her head, to keep herself calm.

In the corner, the priest with the wide brimmed hat smiled.

Jane and her quartermaster had worked together for so long that they could communicate without words. Her first mate Frost was a new talent on their crew, but he fit right in. She wanted them to take point with her when they went in to face The Surgeon. They were out of their element: they had only fought The Surgeon at sea, on dry land he was an unknown commodity. Hoyt had always been unpredictable even at the best of times.

Maura had been right, of course: the way through the old decrepit granary was invisible to the men in the warehouse: their raucous voices could be heard clearly. They obviously needed a lesson on hiding dangerous fugitives discreetly, she thought grumpily as they cheered something in guttural voices. As they crept up on them, she realised that they were in the middle of a card game. All the better, they might be distracted when they arrived. And drunk, from the sound of it.

Jane made it all the way up to the door undiscovered before pulling her heavy pistols and bursting in, making a surprised band of smugglers knock the rickety table over and stumble over themselves in their haste to get to their weapons.

"Just tell me where he is and I won't have to kill anyone."

She felt like someone had dropped a heavy weight on her shoulders before falling to the floor. Korsak was there in a mere moment, sabre drawn and Frost was hard on his heels, their weapons clashing with the smugglers'.

Jane looked up at the bemustasched man who had leapt from the ledge above and was now grinning at her.

"Ow! Really? You don't think that was a bit melodramatic? Could have taken the stairs..."

"What? It worked, didn't it?"

He looked pensive for a moment.

"OK... Maybe a little melodramatic. But I have a disreputation to uphold..."

"It's OK, so do I, I get it."

He smiled and twirled his moustache.

"It was a good move, wasn't it?"

Jane scowled at him.

"OK, stop fishing for compliments and start fighting, I need to capture this bastard momentarily."

"You'll never get it! En garde!"

Jane raised her sabre, listening to the grinding noise of their blades meeting before it hit her.

"It? We'll never get 'it'? What are we talking about here?"

The smuggler stopped mid motion.

"What do you mean? The weapons shipment from the Royal Navy we hijacked yesterday...?"

Jane shook her head slowly.

He let his sword drop to his side.

"That's not why you came? Seriously, you interrupted a great card game here. I had the best hand ever before I went to the loo and now that you knocked the table over, I'll never make the boys believe I had two aces. Thanks a lot."

"KORSAK!"

Her men stopped mid motion. There was confusion painted on the faces of smuggler and pirate alike.

"Exactly who told you we would find The Surgeon here at this godforsaken smuggler's den at the edge of town...?"

"Insolence! What are you calling godforsaken!?"

Jane raised her sabre to his chin to silence the smuggler.

"The barmaid. She said she had heard men talk about The Surgeon hiding in the smuggler's den at the old shipyards."

"Tamaro...?"

"No, the other one."

"Which one? The cute redhead?"

"No, that's Jenna, I'm talking about the new girl. Lola."

"The new girl... Who has started recently and offered to keep Maura safe... Oh God, Maura!"

Jane cursed in all languages she knew and ran out of the warehouse, faster than ever before in her life. It was a good fifteen minutes back to the Filthy Pirate, even if you ran as if chased by wolves.

Further along the road, she saw a white horse tied outside a shabby tavern.

"You are hereby commandeered for the purpose of killing a scoundrel, make haste!"

The horse was definitely on the same page as her, as it pounded the stones with its hooves like it was in a race for money, or for life, which happened to be true.

Another mug of the good rum magically appeared before her and she smiled at the barmaid.

"Thank you...?"

"Lola. I'm new here. I guess you are too?"

"Yes. Is it that obvious...?"

"Well, Black Rizzoli is sort of a star in these circles. When she brings someone here, people notice."

"I see. Has she brought many... Companions here?"

"No, I think it's just you... So you must be special."

Lola winked and smiled at her and Maura thought wryly that the sweet smile and flirty demeanor probably was a great hit with the men who came here. She herself preferred something a little more... Spicy.

"The old priest who's here tonight heard that you like books? He has something interesting he wants to show you, would you come into the backroom with me?"

It was a slightly odd request, but she was raised to be respectful of priests and didn't feel she ought to say no, so she politely got up and followed.

There was one blessed moment, a few seconds of tranquility before she realised that the old ivory leather bible the priest showed her had the Fairfield crest on it and the birthday of her ex-husband dutifully inked on the inside of the cover, in her mother in law's handwriting. It had been taken from Garrett when the pirate had stolen their belongings.

When she looked up, Charles Hoyt's cold eyes looked back, the smile or smirk on his lips never reaching them. She whipped her head to the side to look at the barmaid.

"My dear... You didn't think Janie was the only pirate who has picked up a pretty wench or two on along the way, did you? Lola is somewhat more complacent than you. I suspect that your captain looks for other qualities in a wench than I do... You were quite the challenge."

His smile was sickening. When she saw it, Maura fully understood Jane's tendency to solve a conflict by drawing a sword. She was surprised by how much she wanted to kill him.

"Do you see this?"

He showed a thin dagger, gleaming in the sun rays coming through the miniscule window.

"This is the knife I will use to slit the throat of your love. She's has been a formidable opponent... I looked forward to watching her die... But I find myself undecided. Seeing her a broken woman is also appealing. I could just kill you in front of her and listen to her scream. Or maybe just take an arm or a hand, make her unable to fight? How about her face? Oooh... That was an interesting reaction... You like that pretty face of hers, don't you? What if I ripped it apart? Would you still be lovesick?

Maura stood up straight. She had managed to hold her tongue so far, but the terror of knowing that Jane would be coming here, no idea that a cold blade laid in wait... She had spoken the truth when she had said she wasn't afraid of The Surgeon when she first met him. But now Jane was involved and that was a different story. Her beautiful, fearless, stupidly chivalrous Jane would come rushing right in after her. And that frightened her like nothing ever had.

"Don't you dare talk about her in the past tense. Even if you had that knife against her throat, you wouldn't get to talk about her in the past tense. You don't know Jane. You think you do, but you don't."

"But I do. Jane is in essence self-destructive. She sees her own death in your eyes as she does in mine and she longs for it. I saw it in that dead bird you were carrying when I found you. Death fascinates you, like it fascinates me. It's the only thing that has ever managed to hold my interest."

Maura didn't want to listen, but somehow the words injured her. Because they were true. She was Jane's greatest weakness.

"You're trying to frighten me."

"I am. But it's alright, you don't have to be afraid. Jane will be afraid for you. Her heart's too big, always has been."

Maura found it harder and harder to talk, for some reason. Her head and limbs felt heavy and there was a strange taste in her mouth.

"Did you enjoy your drink, my dear?"

"There was something in the glass, wasn't there? Some sort of..." she tried to isolate the strange and rather unpleasant flavour, "plant compound...?"

"Very good. I will enjoy watching Jane when you are helpless in my arms."

"Are you going to hurt her?"

"Oh, I will. I plan to kill her. But first I want to break her by making her watch you suffer. Don't worry. I won't kill you. Rape you, possibly, but kill you? No."

Jane leaped off the white horse, now foaming with sweat, and ran into the Dirty Robber and grabbed the first barmaid she saw.

"Jenna, where is Maura?"

"She was just here... No, wait, she went to the back room with the new girl. And that weird priest. Seriously, I think Lola might be coming on to your woman. She kept serving her the good rum that Mrs Gerritsen keeps under the counter for special customers when y'all had left..."

Jane's face turned chalky white as she drew her pistols. The first thing she saw as she entered the backroom was the fear in Maura's eyes and the almost imperceptible shake of her head. But she would as well set fire to her own ship as not walk into the room where Captain Charles Hoyt held her captive, clad in a cassock and a big black hat to conceal the insanity painted on his face.

"Jane... Jane, come closer..."

Maura tried to will her with her mind not to, but she could see rage and hatred blossom on Jane's face and she knew she wanted to get close enough to kill him... Hoyt held a knife against Maura's neck. She could only see his face in the periphery of her vision and her leaden limbs were almost impossible to move.

"I have bad things to tell you... I was so hoping you would be able to figure out I was close to you sooner. I had fun with my little clues... This hat belong to the priest I killed the first time I fought you, when I made holes in your pretty hands... And the lovely Fairfield bible brought me much joy. Lady Fairfield recognised it, didn't you dear...?"

Maura tried to talk, tried to will her mouth to be operational again, but to no avail.

"I should have killed you when I had the chance."

The Surgeon became serious for a moment.

"Yes. You should... I always finish what I start... And if I'm going to die, I'm going to take you and your wench with me."

"You could never kill him, he's too strong for you."

Lola's girlish voice sounded strangely devoid of emotion, like she had learnt the line by heart, but didn't really know its meaning.

Jane laughed bitterly.

"He plays you like he plays all his little apprentices. He'll probably kill you when this is all over. If he doesn't, I will."

"Give me your hands..."

The look of despair in Jane's eyes as Charles Hoyt tied her to the wooden cross beam, in a horrible travesty of their loving game of submission earlier, broke Maura's heart. Most of all, that there was nothing she could do. Literally... She felt herself losing control of her motor functions and sink into the arms of the insane man, in an even more ghastly, corrupted version of their post-coital embrace, as she looked helplessly into Jane's eyes. This might be the end of Black Rizzoli and she was to blame.

"I win, Jane."

"Hoyt, don't you touch her!"

He took his time. He sliced into her flesh slowly and with great relish. If she could only tell Jane about the termites... She looked into her eyes and held her gaze. She finally made contact with the normal Jane, beneath all the rage and despair and slowly moved her focus over to the bit of termite eaten wood next to her shoulder. She could see Jane trying to follow her, as she yanked furiously at her restraints.

Hoyt threw a triumphant look in Jane's direction and Maura gathered all her remaining strength.

"Weak."

It was so faint even to her own ears that she wasn't sure if Jane had heard it. But as her eyes darted to the place where Maura's eyes had rested so intently, there was brief look of realisation on her face.

The Surgeon raised the dagger and threw Jane a last look, searching for the suffering on her face.

Instead, she used a combination of rage and a strength Maura suspected that not even Jane knew she had. She made the termite ridden beam shatter behind her and threw herself on Hoyt with her full body weight.

"I win. And you go to hell alone."

Without hesitation, she slammed the dagger into The Surgeon's chest, putting the insane light in his eyes out.

In the corner of her eye, Jane saw a motion. Lola the barmaid was gone so fast she could do nothing to stop her.

Jane held her until the effects of the drug wore off. Hoyt hadn't given her too much, he had wanted her conscious. Leaning heavily on Jane, who put a firm and supportive arm around her waist, Maura felt an immense feeling of relief.

"I am SO grateful that villains always feel the need to gloat before they go in for the kill... Saves the lives of good people."

"I agree."

"I really hope Mrs Gerritsen accepts my explanation. This was one mighty brawl... "

Maura chuckled.

"It certainly was."

"Maura?"

"Yes, Jane?"

"You looked like a 'mutinous hell hound'."

"Aww... Jane... That's so sweet."

Maura was just rising off the floor tentatively as she saw movement in the corner of her eye.

Lola the complacent barmaid was back, armed and significantly less complacent as she aimed it at them. Jane pushed Maura to the side in one fluid motion as Hoyts apprentice fired her first shot, inexpertly, making a bullet whistle past Jane's ear way too close for comfort. Maura didn't think, she didn't assess the risks or asked herself if she was frightened. She had gained back enough movement in her hands to grab Jane's pistol from her belt. She fired without a moment's hesitation.

"You did say you're a quick learner..."

"I am."

Maura waited for the guilt to strike her. But it didn't come. Maybe Charles Hoyt was right, maybe she was like him?

Later that night, after returning to the ship, since there were two dead bodies at the Filthy Pirate, which Maura pointed out was hardly sanitary for a place that served food and drink, they retired to the captain's quarters for some alone time.

Maura looked adoringly at Jane.

"I can't believe you came riding in on a white horse to save me..."

Jane pulled her close.

"Maura... You wouldn't have been in that situation if I hadn't been who I am. I didn't save you, I'm the one who put you in danger in the first place... It was my job to keep you safe and I failed."

Maura shook her head, vehemently.

"It's the other way around, Jane. Hoyt said I'm like him. Maybe he's right and I'm bad for you..."

"You are NOTHING like him."

"But he made me think about a lot things I never have thought about before. I was a strange child. I spent a lot of time alone. I never really felt like I fitted into society... My nannies kept telling me I wasn't like other little girls..."

"Listen to me. You are nothing like that monster, is that clear? You might be a bit socially unconventional, perhaps a little peculiar. But it's not the same thing."

Maura smiled through the tears.

"Thank you..."

Jane leaned her forehead against Maura's and took a shaky breath.

"I should have killed him sooner and this never would have happened. If I'm going soft, I have no business doing this anymore..."

"Jane Rizzoli, It's your turn to listen to me. You should not have killed that vile man before you had to, that's simply not the kind of person, or pirate, you are. You have not gone 'soft', you possess a mixture of sense and sensibility that I happen to find appealing and is one of the main reasons I fell in love with you."

"It was...?"

"Yes."

Maura nodded emphatically.

"What were the others? Cause right now, I'll be damned if I have an inkling."

"You have a natural air of confidence around you and you're a good and fair leader. You did not revel in our misfortune, but treated us with as much respect as you could, although I'll admit to not having seen that way at that very moment..."

"You certainly did not... If looks could kill, I'd be in my watery grave right now."

"Be that as it may, fact remains that you have many admirable qualities."

"That's it? Admirable qualities...?"

"Yes. What attracted you to me?"

"Cleavage," Jane deadpanned and smiled wickedly.

Maura gasped in mock outrage and shoved Jane playfully.

"It's true! You looked like a thousand piasters in that dress, so I found myself wondering what you looked like without it... But there was also your obvious intelligence, your grace under pressure and the interesting fact that you weren't the least bit afraid of me, even though you had no idea what my intentions were."

"Oh, I think I had some idea..."

"Obviously, considering how that night ended...But it was very arousing..."

"Very well, there might have been other factors to my initial attraction as well..."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"Those gorgeous eyes of yours... And your voice made me shiver, as did your hands, which they decidedly should not have in those circumstances. Your legs. You have really great legs in those buckskins, you know... And your cheekbones, I just had to know what it felt like to put my hand against them and pull you in for a kiss..."

And she did. When she pulled back, she noticed that some of the guilt ridden look had left Jane's face and been replaced by a fire she knew.

Jane dipped her head and kissed her way along her chest to the edge of the swell of her breast and brushed it with her lips. The image of Hoyt became clouded and less sharp around the edges as she felt a slow burn in the wake of Jane's lips.

"I just had to know what it felt like to put my hand around that tiny waist of yours and see what your hair looked like when you let it out of the fancy hairdo..."

Jane pulled her close and started pulling out the comb and the hairpins that kept her locks loosely in check. There was a satisfied look on her face when Maura's curls started to tumble down her shoulders and into her hands.

She took her time to untie the corset, and brushed light kisses on already exposed parts during the process. Maura took extra care to show her appreciation. She simply wouldn't have it that Jane didn't know how sure she was of her choice.

Their lovemaking that night was nothing fancy, just touching as much skin as they possibly could, holding each other tight. Jane's fingers slid through her wetness, slowly but with firm pressure, not looking to deny her or complicate the process this time, just offering reassurance and affection. When she shivered in Jane's arms, her moaning drowned in the pirates kiss.

Maura smiled warmly down at her and once again marvelled at the fact that she so trustingly let her take the lead, as she gently pushed her fingers inside her and let them slide against all the secret, soft ridges and curves, as Jane wrapped her legs around her waist and threw her head back against the pillow. She looked like some sort of dark angel against the ivory linen, that Maura had insisted that they'd rob from a smuggler when she first joined the crew, and her impossibly long eyelashes casting tiny shadows on her face that made Maura's heart almost break with tenderness.

She smiled as she imagined what a Fury Jane must have had looked like, riding to save her on that surprised white horse. She loved all of the Janes: the Fury, the suave pirate captain that had first won her heart and this warm, vulnerable woman, moaning under her touch.

Jane climaxed almost soundlessly against her neck, arching up into her touch. She looked up at Maura with the soft look of content afterglow in her eyes.

She laid down on Jane's chest and listened to her beating heart, sliding gradually into Lethe's arms.

"I love you."

She had never heard her say the words, it was the first time.

Their lovemaking was nothing fancy that night. But it was still the best moment of Maura's life, so far.

"I love you too."

The door was suddenly yanked open, and it was all that Maura could do to cover herself at least partly before a tidy middle aged woman blocked the sun. She appeared to be carrying laundry.

"Oh my god, Ma! What are you doing here? I've TOLD you that you can't show up at work like this, I'm a pirate, I have a reputation to uphold!"

"Jane Clementine Rizzoli, from what I can se you have much more than that to 'uphold'!


End file.
